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A look inside Toronto’s giant bulk food store

For more than 30 years Johnvince has been satisfying Toronto’s sweet and salty cravings.

Arnie Singh is the long-time manager of Johnvince Foods in Downsview. (Lucas Oleniuk / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

By Karon LiuFood Writer

Wed., March 2, 2016

It’s hard to describe Johnvince Foods without sounding like you just visited the Willy Wonka factory. There’s a gummy aisle with candies shaped liked pizza slices, toy army men, fried eggs and chicken feet. Jordan almonds come in a silvery coating so reflective they look like the Cloud Gate in Chicago. On the other end of the store is a table stacked high with chocolate bark dusted with peppermint candy. In the back, the aroma of freshly roasted peanuts seeps through the factory doors. Want a five-pound bag of gummy bears? Sure — do you want mango, banana or concord grape flavour?

The hangar-sized food shop/wholesaler, which is also the headquarters of Planters Canada, has been a pantry staple destination among Jane-Finch residents for decades — as well as a junk food temple for nearby York University students. As budget-conscious cooks crack open cookbooks and click on recipe links, buying in bulk is no longer just associated with suburban grandmas buying off-brand candy.

“When the recession hit, it opened the eyes for consumers and that buying at bulk stores means they can spend how much they want and not have to buy the whole jar of spices or bag of candy,” says Arnie Singh, who’s been Johnvince’s store manager for 33 years. He’s also the face of the company (his mug is plastered on bins announcing special deals).

“You can get 30 things with $30 because you’re not paying for the packaging or labels.”

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Johnvince is one of the biggest bulk food stores in North America, boasting about 2,000 items. (Lucas Oleniuk)

Singh, hair slicked back and a gold nameplate necklace that says “Arnie,” has an encyclopedic knowledge of where every 2,000 or so items in the store is located; he’s the person you want to sweet talk for special orders (during our visit, a woman asked him for opaque pink gummy bears for a wedding). Among the people shopping this Wednesday afternoon is the store’s retired co-founder Jimmy “Vincenzio” Pulla. Now in his mid ’80s, he doesn’t talk much but gives Singh a pat on the back before pushing his shopping cart to fill up on snacks to take with him to his second home in Florida.

Johnvince’s origins don’t stray too far from its current facilities at 555 Steeprock Dr., near Dufferin and Finch Ave. W.

Back in the mid ’70s, company founders Pulla and John Ricciuto were roasting nuts in a garage at Finch and Chesswood, near York University, selling their products at flea markets. Eventually the two opened a small retail operation at its current site, with about 200 products for sale — mostly bulk staples like nuts, raisins and gummy bears.

Singh started working for the company in 1983, filling up bins before moving up the company ladder. Ricciuto sold his share of the company in the ’90s and Pulla’s children, Joe and Rita, now head up the corporate side. Johnvince also bought the rights to nut giant Planters Canada in the ’90s, so every salted peanut and sugar-glazed pecan is roasted in the plant attached to the retail store (check out the big rotating metal drums in the back, where roasted pecans are given a sugary-sweet coating).

New age health gurus swear by the health benefits of bee pollen, one of many health foods found in the aisles at Johnvince Foods. (Lucas Oleniuk)

“The store is also a testing ground,” Singh says.

“We see if products work here before we buy 100 cases of it and distribute it out, like the bins of Indian-spiced sacks we have on display right now.”

In addition to staples like flours, rice, coffee, tea and the usual spices, there are bins of less commonly seen items like whole licorice root, and enough highlighter-coloured chicken soup mix to fill a sandbox.

The bulk (pun intended) of Johnvince’s business is wholesale orders from national supermarket chains like Loblaws, Walmart, No Frills, and Fortinos, where the company sets up its bulk bins. Singh sees Bulk Barn as the main competition (he has a Bulk Barn flyer on his desk with the price of cashews circled) but looks at the bigger picture of conquering the snack-happy market through distributing to the big boys. After all, this is the bulk business.

Sprinkles, chicken feet, and bears, oh my

Part of the fun in exploring bulk food shops is finding ingredients or snacks that you’ve never seen before, or at least seeing stuff sold in ridiculously large amounts (see: sprinkles). Here are some of the things that caught our eye while wandering the aisles of Johnvince.

Gummy chicken feet

For all you jerks who order chicken feet at dim sum to freak out your non-Asian friends at the table.

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